


Don and Cosmo's Really Swell Adventure

by renfield31



Category: Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-05
Updated: 2012-08-22
Packaged: 2017-11-09 07:05:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/452680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renfield31/pseuds/renfield31
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Roscoe invents a time machine, Don and Cosmo fast-forward to 2012 and find themselves in a series of hilarious situations, and Cosmo finds himself in a romance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Invention

"So what does this contraption do, Dexter?" R.F. asked. Don, Cosmo, R.F., Lina, Kathy and Roscoe were on soundstage B looking at Roscoe's latest invention. Roscoe was holding a small brown camera with a gold lens. 

"It's a time machine!" Roscoe replied happily. 

"It's a camera," Cosmo said matter-of-factly.

"No, Cosmo. It's a time machine."

"Its's a damned camera."

"Time machine!"

"Camera!"

"TIME MACHINE!"

"CAMERA!"

"SHUT UP!" Lina yelled. Everyone stared at her. After a brief pause, Roscoe continued.

"Now, this LOOKS like a camera, but it really is a time machine. If you turn the lens like so..." Roscoe made a circle with his hand around the lens and made a twisting motion. "you will be sent forward in time! And..." Roscoe made a circle again and made a twisting motion counterclockwise. "you can go back in time!"

"And the point of this is...?" Cosmo began.

"To find out how movies in the future will be made then reciprocate that here!"

"Then why do you even need a back function?"

"STOP QUESTIONING ME, COSMO!"

"I'm just saying, it doesn't make sense."

"Yeah," Don agreed. "especially since the movies before this year were, well...the same as this year."

Roscoe cringed. "Well, if you two are so clever, here!" he thrust out the machine to Don and Cosmo. "play with it and see where it takes you! I don't care!"

And with that, Roscoe, Kathy, Lina and R.F. left the room. Cosmo held the box as he and Don stared at each other.

"Well," Cosmo began. "as with everything else Roscoe does, this makes no sense."

"How do you mean?" Don asked, sitting down in a chair looking up at his best friend.

"How do you know what year it takes you to? It's absolutely pointless to make a time machine--if this is even a time machine, which I doubt it is because Roscoe is full of baloney--without a dial of some sort telling you what year you're going to."

"Well..." Don stood up. "maybe it lets us choose while we're in space?"

"Is that where we go? Space?"

"I guess."

"How do you know that?"

"Where else would we go?" Don shrugged. Both boys stared at the contraption.

"Guess there's only one way to find out."

"On 3?"

"On 3," Cosmo put his hand on the lens. "1...2...3!" And he twisted the lens clockwise and the boys left the room in a flash of light.


	2. Brave New World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don and Cosmo get used to their new surroundings and meet some new friends.

Don and Cosmo landed in their new surroundings faster than they had left their old ones. They looked around them, Cosmo still holding the camera. Everything looked different; the cars, the clothes the people were wearing, even the street looked different. 

"Are we still in Hollywood?" Don asked warily. 

"I don't think we're even in 1927 anymore," Cosmo said, frightened.

"What makes you say that?"

"Look at that car," Cosmo pointed at a Lamborghini. "that's definitely not something we would drive."

"Cos, that doesn't even look like a car..."

"Exactly."

The boys were standing on the sidewalk and they walked slowly down the street. They exchanged curious glances with the people they passed.

"Get some new clothes, freaks!" one shouted. Don and Cosmo looked at their clothes. Don was wearing a black and white checkered sweater and white pants, and Cosmo his usual teal sweater and gray pants. 

"...Maybe he doesn't like it when people start trends!" Don smiled nervously. The boys continued walking down the street. A young man passed them on a bike and Don reached out and stopped him.

"Excuse me," Don called. "is this Hollywood?" 

The man looked at Don as if he were stupid. "Of course." Don and Cosmo breathed a sigh of relief and the man continued riding when Don stopped him again.

"Wait!" he hesitated. "what...what year is it?"

A look of pity appeared on the man's face. "Do you have a mental disability?"

"Look, just answer the question," Cosmo shot back, impatient.

The man grimaced. "2012."

Don and Cosmo looked at each other. "You mean," Don began. "we went into the future by..." he and Cosmo did the math on their fingers. "85 years?"

"What are you talking about?" the man scoffed.

Don and Cosmo froze, looked at each other and began to cry. 

"I wanna go home!" Cosmo wailed.

"Me too!" Don bawled back.

A hint of realization came upon the man's face. "Hey. HEY! Stop crying!"

Don and Cosmo sniffled and wiped away their tears. "Aren't you two the guys from the Singin' in the Rain?" 

"W...what?" Don said, sniffling.

"Singin' in the Rain! Follow me. I'm Brian, by the way!"

Don and Cosmo looked at each other, confused, and followed Brian down the street. Finally, they stopped at Sunset and Camden in front of an apartment complex. Cosmo breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey Don, look! Our apartment's still here!"

The boys smiled at each other and ran inside, Brian looking on after them yelling "WAIT! STOP!" They ran up the stairs to apartment #303 and burst through the door. Inside, they stopped dead; everything looked different - the furniture, the carpet, the walls - everything was different.

"Don, I think someone broke into our apartment," Cosmo mused, looking around. An overweight man walked out of one of the bedrooms and Cosmo stormed up to him.

"HEY! What are you doing in my room?"

"Your room?"

"Yeah! His room!" Don butt in. "and what are you doing in our apartment?"

"Your apartment?" At that moment, Brian came running through the door, his blonde hair in disarray. "Brian, what's going on here?" Don pointed at the man.

"He's in our apartment!"

"Your ap--?" Brian began, confused, but another look of realization came over his face. "you guys are really from the 20s, aren't you?"

Don and Cosmo nodded.

"And this was really your apartment?"

Don and Cosmo nodded again. Brian looked at the man. 

"Dad, maybe we should let them stay."

"That's your dad?" Cosmo pointed at the man and he and Don burst out laughing. Brian's father walked up to Cosmo and stared down at him coldly.

"Uh..." Cosmo began, backing into Don. "he's a very nice man."

 

Five hours later, Don and Cosmo sat on the couch watching Brian's father, whom they learned was named Mike, eat a cheeseburger. He picked up the remote and turned on the TV, causing Don and Cosmo to jump back when it came on. 

"What's the matter?" Mike barked. "haven't you ever seen a TV before?"

"A...TV?" Don asked.

"It means television," Brian called from the kitchen. "you can watch things on it."

Don got up and conducted a thorough inspection of the TV. He looked behind it and inspected the wires. He turned back to Mike and asked,

"You mean you guys don't even listen to the radio?"

Mike burst out laughing. "Radio? Get with the times, boy! Radio's been dead for the last 40 years!"

Don and Cosmo looked at each other in horror. "What...what do you mean 'dead'?" Cosmo asked.

"Just that. Dead. No one listens to it anymore."

"You mean there's..." Don sat back down next to Cosmo. "there's no more Champion Spark Plug Hour?"

"No more Silvertown Cord Orchestra?" Cosmo cried.

"No more Flit Soldiers?"

Mike grew agitated. "What are you talking about? No, no, no, there's no more of that!" 

"Well," Don thought for a minute. "what kinds of things do you, uh...watch on TV?"

"All kinds of things. Sports, reality shows, sitcoms, anything you want! Here, try it!" Mike handed Don the remote. Don stared at it.

"There's...too many buttons." 

"Oh, for Pete's sake..." Mike leaned over and instructed Don on how to use the remote. After his lesson, Don hit the "Guide" button and scrolled through the channels. Finally, he came across a channel whose show was entitled "Pirates vs. Cubs." A smile came upon his face.

"Look, Cos! The Pirates are on!"

Cosmo leaned forward and Don hit the "Select" button. After a few minutes of watching the game excitedly, Cosmo's smile faded as he looked closely at one of the players.

"Wait a minute...that's not Johnny Morrison."

"Rosters change, you know that, right, son?" Mike said.

"Well, sure, but no one from the '27 Pirates is on there."

Mike looked at Cosmo, dumbfounded. "Son, do you really expect players from the '27 Pirates to be playing baseball in 2012?"

Cosmo sank back into the couch. "Don?" he said, staring at the TV.

"Yeah?" Don replied, staring at the TV as well.

"I don't think I like it here."

"Me neither."

"We have to get home."

"You still got the camera?"

"I think..."

"What do you mean 'you think'?"

"Well, I...here it is!" Cosmo reached behind him and pulled out the camera. He was about to turn the lens counterclockwise when he felt Brian's presence over the two of them.

"What are you guys doing?" he asked. Don stood up.

"Listen, Brian. Your time seems, uh...nice, but Cos and I don't belong here. We need to get back to 1927."

"OH! That reminds me! Come here!" He ran into his room and Don and Cosmo followed. 

"Wait a minute," Don said once the boys got into Brian's room. "this is MY room. Where's all my Pirates stuff? My bobbleheads, my posters. What happened to them all?"

Brian walked over to his laptop and rubbed the trackpad, making the monitor come to life. Cosmo yelped and jumped back.

"What is that?"

Brian laughed. "It's a computer! You can use it to type things. You guys know what a typewriter is, don't you?"

"Sure," Don nodded.

"Well, it's like that, only with a screen."

"Oooh!" A grin appeared on Cosmo's face.

"Don't even think about it, Cosmo," Don said sternly. He and Cosmo moved closer to the screen to see what Brian was doing. He clicked on a small icon labeled "Google Chrome."

"'Google Chrome...'" Cosmo read. "what's that?"

"The Internet!" Brian smiled excitedly.

"Internet?" Don asked quizzically.

"The information superhighway!"

Don and Cosmo looked at each other.

"Okay, look. Here's how it works. See this little bar here? That's the address bar. You type the name of the website you wanna go to in there, like this," he typed in "www.youtube.com" into the bar. "and when you type in where you wanna go, just click this." He clicked on a green arrow on the side of the address bar. YouTube came up. "Now, this is YouTube. You can watch videos on here. Check this out!" Brian typed in "Singin' in the Rain" into the search bar and hit Enter. A list of videos appeared. "See? Now you just click on the one you want to watch!" He clicked on the first video displayed and a video box appeared. It showed Don and Kathy kissing at her apartment door.

"That's me and Kathy!" Don said, pointing. 

"Sure is!" Brian smiled. "your name's Don, isn't it?"

"Yeah. How...how did you know?"

Brian laughed. "Everyone knows who you are!"

"How does everyone in your world know who I am? Technically and logically, Cos and I should've died long before you were born."

"Gee, Don, that's encouraging," Cosmo mumbled.

"What? It's true, technically."

Brian shifted in his chair to face the boys. "Listen. Everyone knows who you are because of Singin' in the Rain. It's this great movie that came out in 1952. And you guys are in it! You!" he pointed at Cosmo. "Your name's Cosmo, isn't it?"

"Sure. Cosmo Brown."

"There's a video of you, too! Check it out!"

Cosmo edged in closer as Brian clicked on a video entitled "Make 'Em Laugh." The video began to play, showing Cosmo playing piano. Cosmo jumped back. 

"That's me!"

"Sure is!" Brian smiled.

Cosmo looked at Don, his eyes wide. All Don could do was shrug. Brian stood up.

"You know what you guys need? A night out. Go see how Hollywood has changed! You might like it! But uh..." Brian looked at the boys' clothes. "We're gonna need to get you guys some new clothes."

Don and Cosmo looked at each other and shrugged. Nothing else could possibly go wrong.


	3. Into the Wild Blue Yonder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don and Cosmo have a night out in their new surroundings.

After going shopping all day with Brian, Don, now dressed in a beige-with-teal grid lines button-down shirt and jeans, and Cosmo, dressed in a purple satin button-down shirt and black slacks, found themselves at Avalon. The popular Hollywood night spot was crowded, loud and dark. Don and Cosmo stood at the bar drinking a whiskey each and checking out the scene. The looks on their faces were ones of confusion as they listened to the odd rap music and watched the club patrons dancing on each other strangely.

"WHAT ARE THEY DOING?" Cosmo shouted over the noise. "AND WHAT KIND OF MUSIC IS THIS?"

Don shrugged and shouted back, "MAYBE GENE AUSTIN CAME OUT WITH A NEW RECORD!"

"DON, LET'S CALL BRIAN. I DON'T LIKE IT HERE AND I WANNA GO HOME."

"NO, LET'S STICK AROUND FOR A WHILE."

Don and Cosmo watched the patrons on the dance floor for a while longer. Suddenly, Cosmo spotted a girl with short blonde hair wearing a revealing blue dress staring at him seductively across the room. He nudged Don and shouted,

"YOU SEE THAT GIRL?"

Don leaned over and spotted the girl Cosmo was pointing to.

"YEAH, WHAT ABOUT HER?"

"SHE'S LOOKING RIGHT AT ME."

"SO?"

"SHE'S CUTE."

"WELL, GO TALK TO HER!"

At that moment, the girl made a motion with her finger for Cosmo to approach her. Cosmo pointed to himself and mouthed "me?" to which the girl nodded. Don mouthed "go!" to his buddy and gave him a slight push, and Cosmo walked across the dance floor towards the girl slowly as if in a trance. Finally standing face-to-face with the girl, Cosmo shouted,

"HI!"

"HI," the girl shouted back, smiling. "I'M BRITTANY."

"COSMO," He shook the girl's hand. At a loss as to what to say next, Cosmo looked back toward Don, who mouthed "ask her to dance!" Cosmo turned back to Brittany and shouted,

"WANNA DANCE?"

"SURE!"

Cosmo and Brittany made their way onto the dance floor. Cosmo was about to place his hands on Brittany's body in an attempt to dance the Charleston, but before he could do that, Brittany's back was against his chest as she began to grind up and down on his body. Cosmo looked at Don, horrified. Don just shrugged and gave him the same look. Cosmo put his hands on Brittany's hips and turned her to face him.

"I'M GONNA GO CHANGE THE SONG," he shouted.

Brittany laughed. "WHAT?"

"JUST WAIT HERE!"

Leaving Brittany staring after him, confused, Cosmo ran up to the DJ booth and pushed the DJ out of the way. He immediately spied the DJ's laptop and typed in Youtube's URL. He typed "Charleston" into the search box and clicked on the first video. Quickly, before the video fully loaded, he pulled out the plug to the turntables, causing the music to stop playing and everyone in the club to look up at him, confused.

"Come on, come on..." Cosmo mumbled to the video. It finally loaded and the Charleston began to play. Cosmo jumped down off of the DJ booth and grabbed Brittany and they began to dance.

"Cosmo..." Brittany began nervously looking down at her feet as they struggled to keep up with Cosmo's fast-moving footwork.

"Just follow my lead!" Cosmo smiled. Brittany focused on getting her feet aligned with Cosmo's with his help. After a few minutes, she got it.

"Now you're on the trolley!" Cosmo smiled. He turned to all the others and motioned for them to join in. They shrugged and grabbed their partners and hit the dance floor. Finally the song ended and Cosmo looked over toward where Don had been standing, only to find that he was no longer there.

\-----------------------------------------------------------  
The girl kissed Don forcefully and began to tear open his shirt. They were in her apartment alone on the couch; her roommate was out. All resolve and thoughts of Kathy faded; Don liked what this girl had to offer: long, gorgeous black hair, long, slender legs, decent-sized breasts and a round bottom. Don returned her kisses with equal passion, but when he felt her hands moving lower, unbuttoning his pants and saw her head dipping towards his erection, he knew he had to stop her.

"Whoa!" he stopped her. "what'd did you say your name was again?"

"Christine," the girl said seductively, her face horrifyingly close to Don's.

"Well, Christine," Don hesitated. "I have a girlfriend."

Christine's smile faded and she got off of Don and sat next to him.

"Where does she live?"

Don went pale. "Here," he said after a long pause.

"Here in Hollywood?" Don nodded. "Where?"

Don sighed. He had to tell her. He took a deep breath, turned to face Christine and began.

"Christine...I'm not from this time period."

"You...wait, what?"

Don closed his eyes. "I'm from 1927."

"How...how did you get here? Wait a minute...aren't you Don Lockwood?"

Don smiled a cute half-smile and nodded. "You've seen Singin' in the Rain too?"

Christine smiled and nodded excitedly. "It's one of my favorite movies!"

"No wonder you wanted to give me cash so bad." They both laughed.

"So your girlfriend's name is Kathy, isn't it?"

Don nodded bashfully. Christine looked at him thoughtfully.

"You're a really sweet guy, Don. Even when I saw you in the movie, I could tell that if I ever met you had a big heart. Kathy's super lucky to have you."

And with that, she leaned over and gave Don a hug, and Don made his way back to Brian's, confident that he had done the right thing.


	4. Disaster Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosmo goes on a date with Brittany.

Mike and Brian had gone to a baseball game, so Don and Cosmo were left alone in their apartment that the father and son had provided for them. Don was sprawled on his bed while Cosmo was in his room picking out an outfit. 

"Hey, Cos!" Don called. "listen to this!"

Cosmo ran into Don's room and scrambled onto his bed. Don began to read a paragraph from the book:

“'Cold?” Christian asks softly and bends to lick and suckle all the ice cream off me once more, his mouth hot compared to the cool of the ice.   
Oh my. It’s torture. As it starts to melt, the ice cream runs off me in rivulets on to the bed. His lips continue their slow torture, sucking hard, nuzzling, softly—Oh please!—I’m panting.   
“Want some?” And before I can confirm or deny his offer, his tongue is in my mouth, and it’s cold and skilled and tastes of Christian and vanilla. Delicious.'” 

The boys giggled mischievously. "Read another one!" Cosmo urged. Don flipped to another page and began to read again:

“'I gasp, and his mouth swoops down. He’s kissing me, violently. Briefly our teeth clash, then his tongue is in my mouth.   
Desire explodes like the Fourth of July throughout my body, and I’m kissing him back, matching his fervor, my hands knotting in his hair, pulling it, hard. He groans, a low sexy sound in the back of his throat that reverberates through me, and his hand moves down my body to the top of my thigh, his fingers digging into my flesh through the plum dress.   
I pour all the angst and heartbreak of the last few days into our kiss, binding him to me, and it hits me—in this moment of blinding passion—he’s doing the same, he feels the same.'” 

The boys burst out laughing. "What book is this?" Cosmo asked. Don flipped over the book to the cover amd a puzzled look came upon his face. 

"Fifty Shades of Grey."

"Wow, that's a dumb name for a book," Cosmo said and scrambled off the bed. He went back to his room and started to rummage in his closet again. Don got up and went into Cosmo's room and asked curiously,

"Going somewhere?" 

Cosmo, shirtless, turned to Don and replied, "I got a date."

"A date? Why would you wanna date someone in this day and age? All the girls look like gold diggers and dumb Doras and pushovers."

"Her name's Brittany," Cosmo said in an exasperated voice.

"Wait...the dame from last night at the joint?"

"Well yeah, how many other dames from this era do we know?" Cosmo put a royal blue collared shirt on and pulled out a black tie. As soon as he pulled on his black pants and was about to fasten his black belt, Don seized him by the arms.

"You're not gonna tell her about us, are you?"

Cosmo shrugged. "Maybe I will, maybe I won't. What difference does it make?"

Don stepped back. "Last night, I was necking with this dame-"

"You were WHAT?"

"I wasn't thinking, okay?"

"I mean, I guess it's okay," Cosmo crossed his arms. "Kathy's eighty-five years away, right? Hall pass, right?" he pushed Don gently.

"Look, she came onto me, and she was gonna...you know..." Don pointed at his pants and puckered up his mouth in a blowing action. "but I stopped her and told her I have a girlfriend and she asked where she lived so I didn't have a choice, all right?"

Cosmo thought for a minute. "No one else can know about us," he said quietly.

"What about your girl?"

Cosmo thought some more. "If it comes up, I'll tell her."

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Are you sure we can be up here?" Cosmo asked nervously.

"Sure!" Brittany replied cheerfully, pulling Cosmo's hand. "my friends and I come up here all the time." 

Cosmo and Brittany were on the rooftop of Brittany's apartment building. They sat down on a couple of chairs overlooking Hollywood with all its glittering lights in the moonlight. The sight amazed Cosmo so much.

"Everything's changed," he muttered to himself, shaking his head.

"What?" Brittany asked.

Cosmo quickly shifted his gaze to his date. "What? Oh. Uh, nothing."

The two sat in awkward silence for a few minutes. Brittany was the first to break it.

"You know, that was pretty cool what you did at the club last night."

"It was pretty what?"

"Cool."

"What does that mean?"

Brittany stared at him. "Like...great or good."

"Oh," Cosmo smiled and laughed nervously. "of course."

More awkward silence.

"You're different," Brittany mused.

Cosmo cocked his head slightly.

"How so?"

"I don't know. Something about you seems...unfamilar, like you're from a different time."

Cosmo looked down. Don was right; there was no choice. In a quiet voice, he said,

"That's because I am."

When Brittany continued to stare at him, he continued. 

"Brittany, I'm from 1927."

A look of realization appeared on Brittany's face. "So that's why you switched the music to the Charleston."

Cosmo smiled and nodded.

"The music playing was terrible."

"I can imagine," Brittany laughed. "you're a little out of your element!"

"More than a little. Try 85 years."

Brittany rested her hands under her knees and shook her head. Cosmo couldn't help but stare at the way her blonde hair whipped in the wind. He found her incredibly attractive; she wore a beautiful blue dress and her smile was absolutely perfect to him. 

"So," she began. "are there any girls from the 20s you like?"

Cosmo shrugged. "A few, but..."

"But what?"

"But..." he took a deep breath. "They all want me for my connections."

"Connections?"

"Don, the guy I was with last night, is an actor, a famous one, and whenever we go to parties, I hit on girls and all they can say is 'Oh, Mr. Brown, do you really think you could get me into the movies? Really?' I don't even think they're even interested in me."

Brittany moved closer to him. "I think you're interesting, and I mean that."

Cosmo looked up at Brittany and to his surprise found his face inches from hers. The moonlight made her blue eyes shine brightly and he was mesmerized. Her lips were perfect; pink and round. He wanted to kiss her and leaned in slightly, but just then, a cool breeze blew, sending a shiver down his spine causing him to turn away.

"It's okay," Brittany said quietly, half trying to console Cosmo and half trying to break yet another awkward silence that had risen up. "sometimes my boyfriend does the same thing. Uses me, I mean."

Cosmo looked up. "You have a boyfriend?"

"More like a friend with benefits. You know what that means, right?"

"I think so. Like a daddy."

Brittany stared at him, then burst out laughing. Cosmo wasn't fazed at all; instead, when Brittany was finished laughing, he said quietly, as if he were in a trance,

"I like your laugh."

Their eyes met and both leaned in towards each other, but just as their lips were about to touch, a thundering yell startled them.

"BRITTTANY!"

Brittany and Cosmo jumped up to see who had yelled. A man with red hair was storming towards them. He approached Brittany and continued yelling.

"What are you doing? Who's this weasel?" he pointed at Cosmo. Cosmo stormed around Brittany so that his face was an inch away from the man's.

"Who you callin' weasel?"

Brittany grabbed Cosmo's arm gently.

"This 'weasel' just happens to be my date, Nick!"

"Your date?" Nick snorted with laughter. "I'm your only date, honey."

"You never said we were official, so I believe I can see whoever I want.""

Nick ignored her and continued. He flicked Cosmo's nose and said,

"I mean, where'd you pick up this kid, Brit? He looks like he's from the 20s!"

Cosmo looked down, embarrassed, but only for a second. "Maybe that's because I am!" he said confidently, but the minute he said it, he regretted it, for Nick's eyes widened and a look of sadistic delight came upon his face.

"Oh my God! Wait till Hollywood hears about this!" 

"No!" Cosmo and Brittany, but it was too late; Nick sprinted downstairs and out of sight. Cosmo grabbed Brittany's arms.

"We gotta stop him! He's gonna tell everyone about me and Don!"


	5. What Do We Do Now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don and Cosmo need to get home.

Cosmo stormed into Don's room and slammed the door shut, causing Don to jolt awake. 

"What's the big idea?" he hissed groggily,

"ItoldBrittanythatwe'refromthe20sandnowherboyfriend'sgonnatelleveryone!" Cosmo said rapidly. Don stared at him, open-mouthed. 

"Calm down and speak slower!"

Cosmo took a deep breath and repeated himself.

"I told Brittany that we're from the 20s and now her boyfriend's gonna tell everyone."

Don scrambled up. "What? Wait, was he serious?"

Cosmo sat down on a chair and looked at Don sternly. "Don, the guy was at least six-four. At least."

Don looked around and looked as if he were about to fall over. "He--he's just bluffing!" he smiled and laughed nervously. "nothing'll happen." The boys went to sleep.

Early the next morning, Don awoke to the sound of people talking outside his window. Curious, he got out of bed and looked out the window and immediately his eyes widened. Outside, right below his window, was a hoard of flashing cameras and reporters. Keeping an eye on the crowd, he called,

"C--Cosmo? You better wake up and come look at this."

Don heard a moan from the next room. Cosmo trudged into Don's room, yawning and scratching his hip. All weariness vanished when he reached the window, however; his eyes widened and he said uneasily,

"Who are they?"

Don slowly turned his head to face Cosmo with an angry look on his face. He pushed him roughly.

"You should know. After all, it was YOU who told her boyfriend and blew our cover!"

Cosmo shrugged, at a loss for what to say. "What do we do?"

Don thought for a minute. "We have to tell Brian and Mike."

Cosmo groaned. "Can't we just go home without telling anyone?"

"You still got the camera?"

"Yeah."

The boys ran into Cosmo's room. Cosmo pulled out the camera and twisted the lens counterclockwise and a crack echoed throughout the room as the boys looked down at the cracked glass and Don pushed Cosmo so hard that he hit the wall. 

"Nice job, moron! Now we have no way of getting home!"

"What do we do now?"

"Uh..." Don scrambled for an answer. "Come on!" he took Cosmo's hand and the boys ran into Brian and Mike's apartment. As soon as they burst through the door, Brian came running to greet them.

"Hey, who are all those people outside?"

"They're here to see us," Don said.

"What?"

"Look," Cosmo panted. "we need to get home, but we can't go home because we broke the camera and--"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What camera?"

"We got here because of a camera--well, time machine--that my director invented--"

"Your director? Roscoe Dexter?"

"Yes. And Cosmo didn't think it really worked so we decided to try it and we ended up here."

Brian thought for a moment. "That doesn't explain the people outside."

Cosmo stepped forward. "Last night I went out with a girl and her boyfriend came and yelled at us and I kinda let slip that we were from the past and now he told everyone, like he said he was going to," he said quietly.

Brian thought some more. "We need to figure out how to get you guys home."

The boys paced the room. "Wait a minute!" Brian exclaimed. "underground, there's supposed to be a...a portal or something to the past. It's supposed to be an urban legend, but it's worth a shot, right?"

Don and Cosmo looked at each other. "You mean," Don began, frightened. "we have to go outside?"

Brian shrugged. "Unless you wanna be stuck here forever."

Don and Cosmo looked at each other and shrugged. They knew it was their only way of getting home.


	6. Finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shocking end!

"All right, on 3..."

Don and Cosmo had received a map of the whereabouts of the portal from Brian and were now ready to make a run for it, literally. Don, with his hand on the doorknob, started to count:

"1...2...3!"

Like bullets out of a gun, the boys charged out the door. The press surrounded them, making it impossible to get through. They were shouting out question after question, but the boys couldn't make them out. Pushing their way past the media, they hurried down the street and underneath the Hollywood and Vine bus station, where Brian had said the portal to the past was located. However, no matter how fast they ran, it was no use; the press and photographers kept after them just as fast. They ran past the terminals to the tunnel that Brian had told them they would find. The tunnel was painfully long and made of stone and the press was on their tail, but the boys eventually made it to a large stone room. A gigantic abyss lay in the center of the room, but beyond that was a glowing magenta portal of some sort. Don pointed at it and said,

"That's where we need to go."

Don and Cosmo heard the press coming. "Run!" Don yelled. The boys were just about to start making their way towards the portal when a female voice called out,

"COSMO!"

Cosmo whirled around to find Brittany running towards him in a brown tanktop. 

"Brittany! What are you doing here?"

Brittany laughed. "I think the better question is, what are YOU doing here?"

Cosmo indicated the portal. "Don and I have to go home!" He said excitedly, but then he noticed the sad look in Brittany's huge brown eyes and his smile faded. 

"Is it because of Nick?" she asked. A hurt look crossed over Cosmo's face.

"Of course not, darlin!"

He took Brittany's limp hands in his and looked straight into her eyes.

"Look, honey, Don and I just have to go home. We got work, you know. We don't want R.F. to fire us."

"R.F....R.F. Simpson?"

Cosmo nodded.

"Are you and Don from Singin' in the Rain?"

Cosmo nodded again.

"Let me come with you!"

"I can't."

"Why not? Please! I'll fit right in! I can become a flapper!"

Cosmo laughed. "It's not that easy, Brittany. Our time is...really scary. There's...there's Communists, and...and horrible politicans, and...and silent movies! No one today likes silent movies!"

"I LOVE silent movies! Cosmo, PLEASE let me come with you."

Cosmo inched closer to her and lowered his voice.

"Brittany, I can't let you come with us. Look at your life here. I've only seen a little of it, and I kinda like it. You have a nice life. Don't give it up. Don't waste it on a guy, especially me. I'm not worth it."

"But you are, Cosmo. You showed me real music!" Cosmo laughed. "and most of all, you taught me how to be myself. I hate my life here. I want to come with you. Please!" Tears were forming in her eyes; she was crying now. Cosmo could see the hurt in her eyes, but he couldn't let her come with him. He looked up at her slightly and shook his head. That just made Brittany sob harder, forcing Cosmo to take her into his arms and hold her. The press and photographers just looked on in quiet adoration. 

"I'm sorry," Cosmo mumbled into her hair. He pulled her away from him, still holding onto her, he looked into her brown eyes. He wiped a tear away from her cheek with his thumb, and, leaning in slightly, planted a soft kiss on her lips. He pulled away and saw that Brittany's eyes were even bigger. They looked at each other for a moment, then suddenly, Cosmo placed his hands on Brittany's cheeks firmly and pulled her in for a passionate kiss, his tongue massaging hers. Brittany put her hands on Cosmo's cheeks and the kiss deepened. Finally, they pulled away, and for the first time, Brittany could tell that Cosmo was just as hurt as she was; his blue eyes were big as they looked into hers, and within that moment, sparks flew. Brittany could tell that Cosmo wanted to kiss her again, but instead, to her dismay, he backed away slowly, and they both looked down at their hands as his slipped out of hers. He kept his eyes on her as he walked backwards towards Don and the boys made their way towards the portal. 

Once there, Don carefully set one foot into the portal. Looking back at Cosmo, he shrugged and put both feet in. Cosmo stared after him, then looked back across the abyss at Brittany, his eyes filled with a mixture of sorrow and remorse and hurt. Don's head poked out of the portal and he grabbed Cosmo, pulling him in. 

"I love you, Brittany," Cosmo called when one of his legs was inside.

"WHAT?" Brittany yelled back.

"I LOVE YOU!!!" and he was gone.

 

Cosmo woke up screaming and breathing heavily. He looked at his hands and then outside. It was morning. He looked around his room. His radio still stood on his nightstand and the bookcase was still by the window, just the way he remembered it. Just the way he remembered it...

"DON! DON, COME HERE!"

Don charged in, the two boys wearing nothing but boxers, and grabbed onto Cosmo.

"Cos, I had the strangest dream last night!"

"Me too, buddy! Roscoe invented this time machine thing-"

"Yeah! And we went eighty-five years into the future!"

"And there were other people living in our apartment!"

"Yeah! And Johnny Morrison wasn't on the Pirates!"

"Yeah! And there was this thing called a TV! It was scary!"

"Yeah! And...and I met this girl."

Don let go of Cosmo and stared at him. "A girl?"

"Yeah. She was nice. I remember just before I woke up, I kissed her and told her I loved her."

Don thought for a moment. "Maybe we should...go to work."

"Yeah." Cosmo got out of bed and the two boys got ready for work. Nothing from their dream was in their world, so they forgot all about it.


End file.
